Weak passwords are those that are easily guessed by unauthorized users. Examples include “1234”, “password”, “temp”, etc. A weak password poses security risks at two levels—it may enable unauthorized access to confidential information, and may potentially enable an unauthorized user to compromise the system.
What Makes a Password Strong? The key aspects of a strong password are length (the longer the better); a mix of letters (upper and lower case), numbers, and symbols, no ties to your personal information, and no dictionary words.
A weak password has very little complexity and is easily guessable. It usually consists of easy-to-remember words found in the dictionary. Weak passwords are usually short and easy to crack. Those who use weak passwords are at a higher risk of having their accounts hacked.
Weak/default passwords
Examples include 123456 and qwerty. Most computer systems will provide a default password when first set up. If these are not changed, this puts computers at risk.
Here are the main traits of a reliable, secure password: At least 12 characters long (the longer, the better). Has a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and special symbols. Random and unique.
The Dangers of Weak Passwords
People use weak passwords because there are so many to remember, which also prompts people to use the same weak passwords on multiple accounts and use them at work and home.
A strong password shouldn't include any personal information, like names of family members or pets, addresses, phone numbers, song lyrics, or birthdays. You should also avoid easily guessed passwords like “password” or “1234”. And to make a password really hard to guess, you shouldn't use a password at all!
Don't use 1234567, 7654321 or something similar as your password – you will be hacked. A strong password is not a string of identical letters or numbers such as BBBBBBBB or 888888888. You will be hacked. A strong password is not a common acronym– such as wysiwyg or querty.
What is considered a strong password? Instead of common words that are easy to guess, essential components of a secure password include sufficient length and a mix of special characters, numbers, and uppercase and lowercase letters.
Also, never use an understandable word (“Dolphin”) or expression (“ILoveYou” or “Ferrari”) : Hackers' cracking tools are designed to recognize them. Instead, pick random expressions, combine them with uppercase and lowercase letters, and special symbols such as @ and numbers to create a complex password.
Mix Word and number together randomly
Mix Word and number together randomly (mix uppercase and lowercase). For example, 2 words “Scotfield” and “01255447689”, mix it randomly and become “S012cot5544fie76ld89”, frankly… i do not think is it possible to crack, but it very hard to remember also.
Good passwords should use a minimum of 12 to 14 characters if permitted. For security-critical systems, we recommend using 16-character randomly generated passwords. Passwords should include lowercase and uppercase characters, numbers, and special characters with equal probability.
30% of internet users have experienced a data breach due to a weak password. Two-thirds of Americans use the same password across multiple accounts. The most commonly used password is “123456.”
“guest” beat out “123456” to be the most popular password among Americans in 2022. Simple combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, such as “a1b2c3,” “abc123,” or “qwerty,” are highly popular in the US.
What Is an Example of a Strong Password? An example of a unique and strong password created by a password generator is “JU4$4SX%su^N.” It's twelve characters long, has no predictable pattern and contains a mixture of numbers, special characters and both uppercase and lowercase letters.
A strong password is: At least 12 characters long but 14 or more is better. A combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Not a word that can be found in a dictionary or the name of a person, character, product, or organization.